I still remember the first time i packed a kaya sandwich in Ryan’s packed lunch to daycare. When I went to pick him up, the awesome daycare ladies asked me what was the green stuff in his sandwich 😛 . They probably wondered why any mom would slather green food coloring to their kid’s sandwich LOL.
So, Kaya is a Southeast Asia jam that basically consist of eggs, coconut cream, sugar and Pandan Essence. Pandan Essence is made from Pandan leaves which is in abundance in Singapore. Not so much in where we live in Canada. So next best thing – I brought back Pandan Paste and Pandan extract 😀 . I mean…what’s a girl gonna do to get her favorite jam fix? 😉
For those of you who do not know what Pandan Leaves are like, they are a tropical plant that grows abundantly in Southeast Asia. You can read more about the plant at thespruceeats.com if you like but it is known as a “fragrant plant” because of its unique, sweet aroma and growing up, my mom uses it fairly often for baking. It’s got such a sweet and fragrant aroma i love just sniffing the bottle LOL. And Kaya Sandwich is to me like how PB&J sandwich is to my Caucasian friends 😀 . Well, until now where every kid’s packed lunch has to be nut free anyway.
Traditional Kaya Jam takes at least a couple hours to make. It is really a very easy recipe with less than 5 ingredients. Challenge is it requires a lot of patience slaving over the stove using a double boiler to cook it slowly, making sure you stir it constantly over low heat. The patience is what makes good kaya jam smooth instead of lumpy. Well, I like to think I have many virtues but patience is not always one of them 
So I decided to use the same ingredients as I would in a traditional recipe. Except that instead of a double boiler, I just cook it in a pot directly over stove on low to medium heat. Took way lesser time to get it to a jam kinda texture. Sure, it wasn’t as smooth but it didn’t affect the taste one bit. In fact, it taste every bit the same ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ as I remember growing up eating that for breakfast made by my adorable mom.. I wonder if Ryan thinks I’m adorable too lol.. probably not 😀 . What matters is he loves his kaya toast as much as I do & that’s a win for a lazy mommy trying to integrate him to his Singapore roots.
Best way to eat it – spread margarine and kaya on your toast 😀
Ingredients:
- 5 large eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1 cup coconut cream (full fat version please)
- 1/2 tablespoon Pandan Essence
Instructions:
- Add sugar, coconut cream & essence to the lightly beaten eggs in a pot
- Cook the mixture directly on stove over low to medium heat
- Keep stirring constantly until it becomes the jam texture you are looking for
- When it is cooled, you can store in fridge just like you keep your store bought strawberry jam
LAZY MOMMY GUIDE 